Apparatus for supporting a small child in standing position

ABSTRACT

A web for girdling a child at armpit level is supported within an outer rigid curved support by a plurality of flexible connecting webs attached between the child-girdling webs and the rigid support. Connecting straps are provided on the support and coupled with the girdling web, the lengths of the connecting straps being adjustable. The rigid support is mounted so that its height is also adjustable. All or portions of the girdling web may be elastic or inelastic and one or all of the connecting straps may be elastic or inelastic. The rigid support is carried by a free-standing mount or is attached to a mount adapted to be secured to a wall.

[111 3,747,596 July 24,1973

1 1 APPARATUS FOR SUPPORTING A SMALL CHILD IN STANDING POSITION [76]Inventor: Susan C. Mills, 1 Vernon Rd.,

Scituate, Mass. 02066 [22] Filed: Mar. 9, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 122,358

[52] US. Cl. 128/134, 269/328 [51] Int. Cl A6lg 13/00 [58] Field ofSearch 128/134; 272/58,

2,833,332 5/1958 Nabors 272/70.4 X

823,812 6/1906 Ritter 272/70.3 1,206,203 11/1916 Brockway 272/70.2 X3,198,465 8/1965 Sutton 248/221 X 3,177,035 4/1965 Halstrick 248/226 R XPrimary ExaminerRichard A. Gaudet Assistant ExaminerLee S. CohenAtt0rney-Schiller & Pandiscio [57] ABSTRACT A web for girdling a childat armpit level is supported within an outer rigid curved support by aplurality of flexible connecting webs attached between the childgirdlingwebs and the rigid support. Connecting straps are provided on thesupport and coupled with the girdling web, the lengths of the connectingstraps being adjustable. The rigid support is mounted so that its heightis also adjustable. All or portions of the girdling web may be elasticor inelastic and one or all of the connecting straps may be elastic orinelastic. The rigid support is carried by a free-standing mount or isattached to a mount adapted to be secured to a wall.

23 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures Patehte'd July 24, 1973 3,747,596

SUSAN 6. MILLS //Vl/E/VTOR.

APPARATUS FOR SUPPORTING A SMALL CHILD IN STANDING POSITION Thisinvention relates to childrens furniture and more specifically to astand for facilitating the changing of a child's attire, particularlydiapers.

At least until a child has reached an age at which the child is capableof standing without support and has been disciplined to the extent thathe will do so during the time required to change his diapers and/orother soiled and dirty clothing, it is the usual practice to change" thechild while he is lying down. However, once a child has learned tostand, it is difficult to persuade the child to lie down in order tohave his diapers or other apparel changed. Moreover, childrenin the agegroup ranging from about 7 to 18 months are usually very active andmobile in addition to being reluctant to lie down, so that affecting aroutine diaper change can prove to be an arduous and time consuming taskas well as a severe test of patience.

An object of the present invention is to provide a novel stand forfacilitating changing a small childs apparel, particularly diapers, byconfining and supporting the child in a standing position.

Other objects of the invention are to provide a stand of the typedescribed which: is adjustable for both height and girth of a particularchild; is comfortable for the child and does not give the child afeeling of confinement; is safe and harmless; prevents the child fromusing his hands to interfere with the changing operation; is convenientand easy to adjust and use; and is sturdy, yet simple and inexpensive inconstruction.

The foregoing and other objects of the invention are achieved byapparatus which basically comprises a rigid support member designed toencompass a standing child approximately at shoulder level and aflexible web adapted to be fastened around the childs body at armpitlevel. The web is attached within and to the rigid support by flexible,variable length support members. The height of the rigid support memberis adjustable as required in order to support the child in a standingposition.

The invention accordingly comprises the apparatus possessing theconstruction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts which areexemplified in the following detailed disclosure, and the scope of theapplication of which will be indicated in the claims.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention,reference should be had to the following detailed description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. I is a perspective view of a free-standing em" bodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of another free-standing embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the inventionparticularly adapted for mounting on a wall; and

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of another embodiment of theinvention adapted for wall mountmg.

Reference is now made to FIG. 1 of the drawings wherein there isillustrated apparatus embodying the invention for confining andsupporting a child in a standing position while the child's apparel,particularly diapers, are being changed. The basic components of theapparatus include a flexible web for girdling the childs body at. thearmpits, a rigid support for the web, flexible connecting membersbetween the girdling web and rigid support, and means for mounting thesupport and providing for height adjustment.

The component of the apparatus which contacts and actually holds thechild is a web 10 adapted to girdle the child at armpit level. Thelength or girth of web 10 should be adjustable and the web is providedwith means for connecting its ends together. Web 10 may be formed of anyconventional webbing materials although materials and weaves which arepliable and hence, less likely to scratch or injure a child, arepreferred. It is also possible to provide web 10 with a protectivecovering of a soft fabric that will protect the child against chafingand the like. In the preferred embodiment shown, the same means providefor both easy and fast length adjustment as well as end-to-endconnection of the web. These means comprise a pair of fas teningelements including a first element 12 composed of pile-like arrangementof small, flexible hooks adapted to engage another element 14 composedof a pile-like arrangement of loops. Fasteners of this type are wellknown and are available under the trade mark Velcro.

Web 10 is supported inside of a rigid support in the general form of aring 16 dimensioned to encircle web 10 and having a substantially largerdiameter. Ring 16 can be a complete circle, or can be formed in twosections including a main arcuate section 18 of a generally C-shapedconfiguration, and a shorter, arcuate connecting section 20 releasablyjoined, for example, by telescoping, to the ends of main section 18. Themain section 18 of ring 16 is formed ofa rigid material, cylindricalmetal tubing being preferred because of its light weight, ease offabrication and freedom from edges or corners on which a child mightinjure himself. However, other materials such as wood, syntheticplastics and the like, may be employed aswell as other crosssectionalconfigurations.

A plurality of flexible support members 22 are provided for connectingthe web 10 to ring 16 to support the web within the rigid ring. In theform shown in FIG. 1, support members 22 are four in number and areuniformly spaced around the ring. The support members 22 are formed offlexible strappingor webbing, which may be woven or nonwoven and maytake any conventional form. Extruded or woven synthetic plastics arepreferred particularly because of their resistance to soiling and theirease of cleaning. Support members may be flexibly attached to web 10and/or 16 by conventional means such as rivets, or the support strapsmay be merely looped around the web and/or ring so that the web is freeto rotate to a limited extent within the ring. Suitable buckles or otherconventional means (not shown) may be provided for adjusting the lengthsof the support members.

Mounting means for the support ring 16 include four telescoping legs 24connected at their lower ends to hinge mounts 26 secured to a base 28.The construction of the adjustable length, telescoping legs is conventional and includes, for example, spring loaded pins mounted in theinner (smaller diameter) sections of the legs adapted to projectoutwardly through holes in the outer (larger diameter) sections of thelegs. Hinge mounts 26 cooperate to permit extension and retraction ofthe legs to locate ring 16 at any desired height above base 28. Thepreferred height is about at the level of the shoulders of the child sothat the girdling web will be immediately beneath the childs armpitswhen the child is standing erect.

The removable section of ring 16 functions to lend strength to the ringsupport structure and is preferred because it acts as a gate permittingthe child to walk into the support ring and making it unnecessary tolift the child over the ring. This is particularly important if thechild is heavy. It also has the advantage of permitting the apparatus tobe mounted on a table, making it much more convenient to change thechilds apparel, including diapers, pants, shoes, stockings and the like.The support ring construction has the added advantages of preventing thechild from lowering his arms and interfering with the changingoperation.

It has been found that children are more comfortable and feel lessentrapped if they are permitted some freedom of movement. This can beaccomplished by forming all or portions of web 10 of an elastic materialand- /or by forming some or all support members of an elastic material.A particular structure found to be advantageous in that it securelysupports and restrains the child while permitting lateral movementsufficient to make the child more comfortable and willing to use theapparatus, is to form the girdling web 10 and two rear support members(straps) 22 of an inelastic material while forming the forward members22 (closest removable section 20) of an elastic material. This permitsadjustment of the length of girdling web 10 as well as rearward motionof the child who will usually face section 20, while preventing forwardmotion against the connector and toward section 20 and maintainingcontrol over the childs movements.

Another and somewhat simpler, free-standing embodiment of the inventionis illustrated in FIG. 2. This embodiment differs from that of FIG. Ibasically in that the rigid support, designated 30, is generallyU-shaped and is formed integrally with two leg sections 32 extendingdownwardly into telescoping engagement with two upstanding legs 34 ofmounting means having a U- shaped section 36 secured as by screws 37 toa base 28. Both the rigid support 30 and the mounting means are eachformed ofa corresponding single length of tubular material'and heightadjustment is achieved by employing pins and holes as previouslydescribed.

A restraining strap 38 may be secured between the ends of U-shapedsection 30 where it joins leg sections 32 to insure additional restraintof the child. The entire assembly may be formed of a material which isnot affected by water so that it can be employed in a bath tub as an aidin bathing the child. In such an embodiment, provision can be made forremoving the supporting mounting means from base 28 in order tofacilitate fitting the stand into a bath tub.

The embodiments of the invention shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 include a singlemounting member attached to the rigid support at the rear thereof bymeans permitting vertical adjustment of the height of rigid supportalong the mounting member. Although the mounting member may be mountedin an upstanding position at its lower end on a base 28, in thepreferred embodiment shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, it is designed to bemounted on a vertical surface such as a wall. The child supportillustrated in FIG. 3 comprises a U-shaped rigid support 40 mounted on aslider 42. In turn, the latter is slidably mounted on a mounting member44 having an I-shaped cross-section. Holes 46 are provided in member 44forbolts or screws employed to mount member 44 on a wall or the like anda wing bolt 48 is threaded into slider 42 for retaining the slider andsupport 40 in any desired (vertical) position. In this embodiment, anumber of mounting members 44 may be provided at different locationsthroughout the home and a single support 40 and slider 42 combinationemployed with any of the mounting members. FIG. 3 also illustrates theuse of three, rather than four, support members 22 in which the rearmostmember 22 secured adjacent slider 42 is preferably inelastic and theother two members 22 are elastic. This permits adjustment of the size ofthe girdling loop formed by web 10 to limit mobility of the child. Aband may be provided secured at its ends to the end sections of support40 to further restrain the child. It should be understood, however, thatthe rigid support 40 may be circular as shown in FIG. 1 and three orfour support members 22 may be employed.

An alternative form of mounting member especially adapted for wallmounting is illustrated in FIG. 4. It comprises a length of cylindricalbar stock or tubing 50 having an elongated straight section and bent atright angles near opposite ends which are secured in conventional pipeflanges 52 adapted to be mounted on a vertical surface. A rigid support40, either circular or U- shaped, is secured to a slider 54 engagedaround the straight section of member 50 for sliding movement and a wingbolt 56 is provided in a tapped hole in slider 54 for restraining theslider against movement along member 50.

It will be seen from the foregoing that the objects of the presentinvention are achieved by a novel, simple and inexpensive structure thatis easy and convenient to use, is comfortable for and will not harm achild, while it effectively restrains and supports the child, regardlessof height, in a standing position.

Since certain changes may be made in the above apparatus withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention herein involved, it isintended that all matter contained in the above description or shown inthe accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and notin a limiting sense.

What is claimed is:

1. A changing stand for restraining and supporting a small child in astanding position comprising, in combination: a rigid support forencompassing a childs body on at least three sides; a length of flexiblewebbing; fastening means on the ends of said length of webbing forfastening said webbing around the body of a child immediately beneaththe arms; a plurality of flexible support members each attached to saidsupport and said webbing and being dimensioned and positioned relativeto one another to support said webbing as a loop for surrounding achilds body; mounting means bearing said rigid support, and means forfixedly positioning said mounting means comprising a base memberdimensioned so as to directly support at least a portion of said childsweight whereby said stand is substantially immovable in a horizontaldirection by any activity of said child when the latter is held by saidwebbing, and means for adjusting the height of said rigid support in avertical direction with respect to said base member.

2. Changing stand as defined in claim 1 wherein said rigid support isgenerally circular.

3. Changing stand as defined in claim 1 wherein said rigid support is inthe form of a ring including a section removable to permit a child toenter said ring.

4. Changing stand as defined in claim 1 wherein said rigid support isgenerally U-shaped.

5. Changing stand as defined in claim 1 wherein said webbing issubstantially inelastic and at least one of said support members iselastic.

6. Changing stand as defined in claim 5 including at least three of saidsupport members uniformly spaced around said ring formed by said webbingand wherein at least said support members closest said fastening meansare elastic.

7. Changing stand as defined in claim 6 wherein the other supportmembers are substantially inelastic.

8. Changing stand as defined in claim 1 wherein a portion of saidwebbing is substantially inelastic and at least another portion thereofis elastic.

9. Changing stand as defined in claim 8 including at least three supportmembers at least one of which is elastic and another of which isinelastic.

10. Changing stand as defined in claim 1 wherein said fastening meansare constructed to prevent alteration of the girth of the ring formed bysaid webbing.

11. Changing stand as defined in claim 10 including means providing foradjustment of the length of at least one of said support members.

12. Changing stand as defined in claim 1 wherein said means foradjusting the height of said support include portions of said mountingmeans having adjustable lengths.

13. Changing stand as defined in claim 1 wherein said rigid support ismovably mounted on said mounting means.

14. A changing stand for restraining and supporting a small child in astanding position comprising, in combination: a rigid support forencompassing a childs body on at least three sides; a length of flexiblewebbing; fastening means on the ends of said length of webbing forfastening said webbing around the body of a child immediately beneaththe arms; a plurality of flexible support members each attached to saidsupport and said webbing and being dimensioned and positioned relativeto one another to support said webbing as a loop for surrounding achilds body; mounting means bearing said rigid support; means adaptedfor attaching said mounting means to a fixed surface in a verticaldirection and, means for adjusting the height of said rigid support in avertical direction.

15. Changing stand as defined in claim 14 wherein said rigid support isgenerally circular.

16. Changing stand as defined in claim 14 wherein said rigid support isgenerally U-shaped.

17. Changing stand as defined in claim 14 wherein said webbing issubstantially inelastic and at least one of said support members iselastic.

18. Changing stand as defined in claim 17 including at least three ofsaid support members uniformly spaced around said ring formed by saidwebbing and wherein at least said support members closest said fasteningmeans are elastic.

19. Changing stand as defined in claim 18 wherein the other supportmembers are substantially inelastic.

20. Changing stand as defined in claim 14 wherein a portion of saidwebbing is substantially inelastic and at least another portion thereofis elastic.

21. Changing stand as defined in claim 20 including at least threesupport members at least one of which is elastic and another of which isinelastic.

22. Changing stand as defined in claim 14 wherein said fastening meansare constructed to prevent alteration of the girth of the ring formed bysaid webbing.

23. Changing stand as defined in claim 22 including means providing foradjustment of the length of at least one of said support members.

1. A changing stand for restraining and supporting a small child in astanding position comprising, in combination: a rigid support forencompassing a child''s body on at least three sides; a length offlexible webbing; fastening means on the ends of said length of webbingfor fastening said webbing around the body of a child immediatelybeneath the arms; a plurality of flexible support members each attachedto said support and said webbing and being dimensioned and positionedrelative to one another to support said webbing as a loop forsurrounding a child''s body; mounting means bearing said rigid support,and means for fixedly positioning said mounting means comprising a basemember dimensioned so as to directly support at least a portion of saidchild''s weight whereby said stand is substantially immovable in ahorizontal direction by any activity of said child when the latter isheld by said webbing, and means for adjusting the height of said rigidsupport in a vertical direction with respect to said base member. 2.Changing stand as defined in claim 1 wherein said rigid support isgenerally circular.
 3. Changing stand as defined in claim 1 wherein saidrigid support is in the form of a ring including a section removable topermit a child to enter said ring.
 4. Changing stand as defined in claim1 wherein said rigid support is generally U-shaped.
 5. Changing stand asdefined in claim 1 wherein said webbing is substantially inelastic andat least one of said support members is elastic.
 6. Changing stand asdefined in claim 5 including at least three of said support membersuniformly spaced around said ring formed by said webbing and wherein atleast said support members closest said fastening means are elastic. 7.Changing stand as defined in claim 6 wherein the other support membersare substantially inelastic.
 8. Changing stand as defined in claIm 1wherein a portion of said webbing is substantially inelastic and atleast another portion thereof is elastic.
 9. Changing stand as definedin claim 8 including at least three support members at least one ofwhich is elastic and another of which is inelastic.
 10. Changing standas defined in claim 1 wherein said fastening means are constructed toprevent alteration of the girth of the ring formed by said webbing. 11.Changing stand as defined in claim 10 including means providing foradjustment of the length of at least one of said support members. 12.Changing stand as defined in claim 1 wherein said means for adjustingthe height of said support include portions of said mounting meanshaving adjustable lengths.
 13. Changing stand as defined in claim 1wherein said rigid support is movably mounted on said mounting means.14. A changing stand for restraining and supporting a small child in astanding position comprising, in combination: a rigid support forencompassing a child''s body on at least three sides; a length offlexible webbing; fastening means on the ends of said length of webbingfor fastening said webbing around the body of a child immediatelybeneath the arms; a plurality of flexible support members each attachedto said support and said webbing and being dimensioned and positionedrelative to one another to support said webbing as a loop forsurrounding a child''s body; mounting means bearing said rigid support;means adapted for attaching said mounting means to a fixed surface in avertical direction and, means for adjusting the height of said rigidsupport in a vertical direction.
 15. Changing stand as defined in claim14 wherein said rigid support is generally circular.
 16. Changing standas defined in claim 14 wherein said rigid support is generally U-shaped.17. Changing stand as defined in claim 14 wherein said webbing issubstantially inelastic and at least one of said support members iselastic.
 18. Changing stand as defined in claim 17 including at leastthree of said support members uniformly spaced around said ring formedby said webbing and wherein at least said support members closest saidfastening means are elastic.
 19. Changing stand as defined in claim 18wherein the other support members are substantially inelastic. 20.Changing stand as defined in claim 14 wherein a portion of said webbingis substantially inelastic and at least another portion thereof iselastic.
 21. Changing stand as defined in claim 20 including at leastthree support members at least one of which is elastic and another ofwhich is inelastic.
 22. Changing stand as defined in claim 14 whereinsaid fastening means are constructed to prevent alteration of the girthof the ring formed by said webbing.
 23. Changing stand as defined inclaim 22 including means providing for adjustment of the length of atleast one of said support members.